Disk cartridge for exchangeably accommodating a disk-shaped recording medium

ABSTRACT

A disk cartridge includes a main body of the cartridge having an opening or its major surface by which the signal recording surface of an optical disk accommodated in the main body is exposed to outside and an aperture formed on the lateral surface orthogonal to the major surface of the main body for enabling the optical disk to be inserted into and taken out of the cartridge for disk exchange. The disk cartridge also an opening/closing member which is rotatably supported by the main body by pivot pins provided at its one end for engaging in recesses in the aperture in the main body, for opening and closing the aperture and, which is provided at its other end with a resilient arm having a retaining end pawl engageable with a mating retaining section in the main body. By actuation of the opening/closing member, the aperture in the main body is opened or closed to permit exchange of the optical disk.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/429,805filed Oct. 31, 1989, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a disk cartridge for exchangeably accomodatinga disk-shaped recording medium, such as an optical disk ormagneto-optical disk.

2. Related Art Statement

Up to now, a disk shaped recording medium, such as a write-once typeoptical disk, has been used. This type of the disk is accommodated in adisk cartridge when attached to the recording and/or reproducingapparatus with a view mainly to preventing data signal record and/orreproduce errors caused by the signal recording surface being injured orcontaminated due to contact directly with part of a loading mechanism ordue to contact of hand or finger or deposition of dust and dirt duringinsertion into or detachment from the recording and/or reproducingapparatus.

In such disk cartridge in which the disk is accommodated in a cartridgewhen the disk is attached to the recording and/or reproducing apparatus,there is proposed in, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,013, adisk-exchange type disk cartridge wherein, for enabling the disk to beexchanged as desired and for utilizing the cartridge more efficiently, aplurality of disks may be exchangeably attached to the recording and/orreproducing apparatus.

As this type of disk cartridge, the present Assignee has alreadyproposed an arrangement shown in the specification and drawings of theJapanese laid open Patent Publication No. 57970/1988 or an arrangementshown in the specification and drawings of the Japanese Utility ModelApplication No. 86810/1988. The disk cartridge shown in thesespecifications and drawings is so arranged that a lid is provided at adisk insertion/detachment aperture formed in the rear surface of themain body of the cartridge accommodating the disk opposite to its frontsurface or shutter attachment surface for opening or closing theaperture, and that this lid is opened to enable disk exchange. The lidhas an L-shaped cross-section for closing the disk insertion/attachmentaperture extending from the upper rear surface towards the lateral rearsurface of the main body of the cartridge, and is pivotally connected tothe rear parts of the lateral walls of the main cartridge body bypivoltal engagement between pivot pins and engaging recesses, so as tobe rotated in a direction normal to the plane of the main body of thecartridge. The aperture opening/closing lid has an engaging recess onthe lower inner rear surface which may be engaged with a matingprojection on the rear edge of the main body of the cartridge when thelid is brought to a position of closing the disk insertion/detachmentaperture.

With the above described disk cartridge, disk exchange may be made uponopening and closing the aperture opening/closing lid, while the diskcartridge may be attached to the recording and/or reproducing apparatusin the similar manner to the ordinary disk cartridge by closing the diskinsertion/detachment aperture by the opening/closing lid.

The aperture opening/closing lid of the above described disk cartridgeis rotatably supported by the main body of the cartridge by means ofpivots on its both sides, so that a thrust pressure is necessarilyapplied to the central flat surface section intermediate both sidepivots when the lid is opened by disengaging the engaging recess awayfrom the mating projection of the main body of the cartridge. As aresult, the upper central surface of the lid and the upper surface zoneof the main body of the cartridge about the disk insertion/detachmentaperture are flexed severely towards the inside of the main body of thedisk cartridge. With the aperture opening/closing lid or the main bodyof the cartridge being thus flexed inwardly of the disk cartridge, thereis the risk that the disk accommodating space in the main body of thecartridge becomes straightened to injure the accommodated disk. There isalso the risk that the disk cartridge as a whole is deformed tointerfere with smooth insertion and detachment of the disk cartridgeinto or from the recording/reproducing apparatus, and that, in addition,the disk is brought into contact with the main body of the cartridgeupon rotation of the disk to cause damages to the disk.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge inwhich disk exchange may be performed upon opening and closure of anopening/closing member by providing the main body of the cartridge witha disk insertion/detachment aperture that is opened or closed by theopening/closing member.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a diskcartridge in which no unnecessary pressure is applied to theopening/closing member or to the main cartridge body during opening orclosure of the opening/closing member adapted to open or close the diskinsertion/detachment aperture to prevent the opening/closing member orthe main body of the cartridge from being flexed, as well as to preventthe disk cartridge from being deformed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a diskcartridge in which the main body of the cartridge is freed ofdeformation and maintained in its design size and shape to assurereliable attachment or detachment of the disk cartridge to or from therecording/reproducing apparatus.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a diskcartridge in which the opening/closing operation of the apertureopening/closing member is facilitated and a stable lid closure state isassured.

For accomplishing the above objects, the disk cartridge of the presentinvention includes a main body of the cartridge provided with an openingfor exposing the signal recording surface of an accommodated disk-shapedrecording medium to outside, and also with an insertion/detachmentaperture for the disk-shaped recording medium on its side normal to themain surface in which the opening is formed, and a shutter slidablymounted to the main body of the cartridge for opening or closing theopening. The disk cartridge also includes an aperture opening/closingmember which is rotatably supported by the main body of the cartridge byhaving a pivot section pivotally connected to one end of the diskinsertion/detachment aperture in the main body of the cartridge to openor close the aperture, and which is provided at the side opposite to thepivot section with a resilient arm having a retaining end pawl engagingwith a mating retaining section in the main body of the cartridge.

The disk cartridge according to the present invention also includes aposition control section at the one side provided with the pivot sectionadapted for pivotally connecting the aperture opening/closing member tothe main body of the cartridge. The position control section is adaptedto engage with a portion of the main body of the cartridge.

The disk cartridge of the present invention is so designed that theaperture opening/closing member supported by the main body of thecartridge by means of the pivot section is rotated within a planeparallel to the plane of the main body of the cartridge, that is, withinthe major surface thereof, for opening or closing the diskinsertion/detachment opening in the main body of the cartridge.

When the opening/closing member is at the position of closing the diskinsertion/detachment aperture in the main body of the cartridge, therotating end pawl at the side of the resilient arm opposite to the pivotsection is retained by the mating retaining section of the main body ofthe cartridge.

When the position control section is provided at the one end of theopening/closing member provided with the pivoting section, the controlsection engages with a portion of the main body of the cartridge forlocking the opening/closing member to the main body of the cartridge.

The aperture opening/closing member, which is in the state of closingthe disk insertion/detachment aperture, may be unlocked from the mainbody of the cartridge by flexing the resilient arm and disengaging theretaining end pawl thereof from the mating retaining section of the mainbody.

These and other objects and advantages to be derived from the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following description of apreferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disk cartridge according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective view showing the diskinsertion/detachment aperture side of a main body of the cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view, partially broken away, of the main body of thecartridge, with the disk insertion/detachment aperture being opened.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a pivot section for theaperture opening/closing member.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view, partly broken away, of the main body of thecartridge, with the disk insertion/detachment aperture closed.

FIG. 9 is a partial bottom view of the main body of the disk cartridgeshowing the state in which the resilient arm is thrust to release thelocking of the retaining pawl.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the aperture opening/closing membershowing the state in which pivot pins are disengaged from the matingrecesses.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

By referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention will be explained in more detail.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the disk cartridge of the present inventionincludes a main body of the cartridge 1 formed by an upper half 2 and alower half 3 abutted and connected to each other. These halves 2 and 3are each in the form of a flat rectangular plate which is formed by, forexample, injection molding of a suitable synthetic resin material.Within this main body of the cartridge 1 is rotatably enclosed anoptical disk 4 provided with a disk-shaped recording medium, such as awrite-once type optical recording medium. Extending from the centralsections towards the front edges of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3of the main body 1 are substantially rectangular openings 7 and 8 whichare adapted for exposing a central chucking section of an optical disk 4accommodated therein and the signal recording surface of the opticaldisk 4 towards outside and which are faced by data signalrecording/reproducing means, such as an optical pickup, adapted torecord or reproduce data signals on or from the disk 4.

A shutter 9 for opening or closing the openings 7 and 8 is slidablymounted on the main body of the cartridge 1. This shutter 9 is formed bya thin metallic plate, such as a stainless steel plate, which is bentinto the form of a letter U, and is made up of a first closure section9a for closing the opening 7 in the upper half 2, a second closuresection 9b for closing the opening 8 in the lower half 3 and aconnecting section 9c for connecting these closure sections 9a and 9b toeach other. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the shutter 9 is fitted fromthe front side over the outer surfaces of the main body of the cartridge1, with the first and the second closure sections 9a and 9b extendingover the openings 7 and 8 in the flat surface of the closure members 9aand 9b and sliding on the flat surfaces of the main body of thecartridge 1.

On the inner surfaces of the upper and the lower halves 2 and 3, thereare formed substantially circular recesses 10 each having an insidediameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of the optical disk4. The recesses 10 are delimited towards the front side by arcuate ribs11 formed on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3.These ribs are formed upright on the bottom surfaces of the recesses 10and of such a height that the ribs abut on each other when the upper andthe lower halves 2 and 3 are combined together to form the main body ofthe cartridge 1. These arcuate ribs 11 are abutted to each other to forma forward wall of the main body of the cartridge 1. The recesses 10 areabutted to each other to form a disk accommodating section 6 when theupper and the lower halves 2 and 3 are abutted and connected to eachother.

On the confronting lateral sides of the upper and the lower halves 2 and3, there are formed upright walls 14, 15; 16, 17 forming lateral walls12 and 13 of the main body of the cartridge 1 when abutted to eachother. Conversely, the rear side of the main body of the cartridge 1,opposite to its front side fitted with the shutter 9, is free fromclosure walls such as upright walls or arcuate ribs and thus in thecompletely opened state. The rear side of the main body of the cartridge1, formed in this manner by abutting the upper and the lower halves 2and 3 to each other, defines an opening extending over its whole widthand functioning as a disk insertion/detachment aperture 20 through whichthe optical disk 4 may be inserted into or detached from the main body1.

An opening/closing member 21 is provided on the main body of thecartridge 1 for opening or closing the disk insertion/detachmentaperture 20. This opening/closing member 21 in formed by, for example,injection molding the same synthetic resin material as that of the upperand the lower halves 2 and 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. Theopening/closing member 21 is formed by a side wall section 22 formingthe rear side wall of the main body of the cartridge 1 when the member21 is inserted into the aperture 20 for closing the aperture 20 as shownin FIGS. 2 and 8, and a fitting section 23 projecting from one lateralside of the side wall section 22 and adapted for intruding into theinside of the main body of the cartridge 1 for defining the diskaccommodating section 6. The side wall section 22 is of the same heightand width as the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20. The fittingsection 23 forms the rear side wall of the disk accommodating section 6when the opening/closing member 21 is inserted into the diskinserting/detachment aparture 20. For this reason, an arcuate recess 24is formed on the distal side of the fitting section 23 so as to becontiguous to the substantially arcuate recess 10 of the upper and thelower halves 2 and 3.

A projection 26 is provided at one corner of the apertureopening/closing member 21 along the extending direction of the side wallsection 22, and pivot pins 27, 28 are provided upright on the upper andthe lower sides of the proejction 26. These pivot pins 27, 28 areengaged in mating recesses 29, 30 at the corresponding rear side cornersof the upper and the lower halves 2 and 3, as shown in FIG. 7, to form apivot section 31 for rotatably supporting the aperture opening/closingmember 21 with respect to the main body 1. The aperture opening/closingmember 21, thus supported by the main body 1, may be rotated within aplane parallel to the plane of the main body 1, with the pivot section31 as the center of rotation, as shown in FIG. 6.

The pivoting section 31, pivotally supporting the apertureopening/closing member 21, may be so designed that, conversely to theabove mentioned arrangement, the pivot pins 27, 28 are formed on theupper and lower halves 2 and 3 and the mating recesses 29, 30 are formedin the projection 26.

The other side of the aperture opening/closing member 21, opposite tothe side thereof provided with the pivot pins 27, 28, is formed with aresilient arm 34 having a retaining end pawl 33 engaging with a matinghole 32 which is formed in the other lateral wall 13 of the main body ofthe cartridge 1 and which is adapted for functioning as a retainingsection. As shown in FIG. 6, this resilient arm 34 is formed integrallywith the other end of the fitting section 23 for extending from the endof the fitting section 23 towards the side wall section 22 and may beresiliently deformed with the connecting point to the fitting section 23as the fulcrum. The one end of the aperture opening/closing member 21 isprovided with a position control section 36 which is formed as a bossextending parallel to the pivot pins 27, 28 and adapted for engaging ina mating recess 35 in the inner lateral side of the lateral wall 12 ofthe main body of the cartridge 1. This boss 36 is formed for projectinglaterally from the one end of the fitting section 23. This positioncontrol member 36 need only be of such a contour that the member 36 isengaged with a mating engaging portion of the main body of the cartridge1 to control the rotational position of the aperture opening/closingmember 21. Thus the member 36 may be in various forms, such as a pawl orfinger, mating in a corresponding engaging portion of the main body ofthe cartridge 1.

The other end of the side wall section 22 of the apertureopening/closing member 21 is provided with a generally trapezoidalgripping section 37 adapted for facilitating the rotation of theaperture opening/closing member 21 and having the same thickness as thethickness of the main body 1. When the aperture opening/closing member21 is rotated for closing the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20, thegripping section 37 fits into mating recesses 38a, 38b on the rear sideedges of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 of the main body 1 so as tobe flush with the surfaces of the upper and the lower halves 2 and 3.

On the lower side of the gripping section 37 having the above thickness,that is, on the side thereof which will the lower half 3 on attachmentof the member 21 to the main body of the cartridge 1, there is provideda post recording inhibit member 39, as shown in FIG. 5 and 6. Thispost-recording inhibit member 39 is slidably mounted in an engaging hole40 in the gripping section 37 for movement therein, so that, when thedisk cartridge is attached to the recording and/or reproducingapparatus, it can be detected at the apparatus whether the postrecording of data signals may be made on the optical disk 4 or suchpost-recording is inhibited.

The above described aperture opening/closing member 21 is rotatablysupported by the main body of the cartridge 1 by having the pivot pins27, 28 engaging in the mating recesses 29, 30 of the upper and the lowerhalves 2 and 3, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As the fitting section 23 isrotated into fitting with the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20,that is, in the direction shown by an arrow B in FIG. 6, the resilientarm 34 intrudes into the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20, as theresilient arm 34 is resiliently deformed by the inner surface of theother side wall 13 of the main body 1. When the opening/closing member21 has been rotated to a position of completely closing the diskinsertion/detachment aperture 20, the arm 34 is resiliently restored, asshown in FIG. 8, the retaining end pawl 33 then engaging in the matinghole 32 for locking the opening/closing member 21 to the main body 1. Atthis time, the position control section 36 provided at the one end ofthe opening/closure member 21 engages with the engaging hole 35 in theinner lateral surface of the lateral wall 12 of the main body 1. Theside wall section 22 engages with mating steps 18, 19 formed on theinner surface at the rear side of the upper and the lower halves 2 and 3for completely closing the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20. Theaperture opening/closing member 21, which is locked to the main body ofthe cartridge 1 in this manner for closing the disk insertion/detachmentaperture 20, may be fitted in the precisely controlled position withrespect to the main body of the cartridge 1 by the retaining end pawl 33and the position control section 36, as shown in FIG. 8. Inasmuch as theposition control section 36 is provided at the side of theopening/closing member 21 provided with the pivot section 31, any loadapplied to the aperture opening/closing member 21 may be received by theposition control section 36 to prevent an excess load from being appliedto the pivot section 31. This results in the pivot section 31 beingprotected from application of external forces or pressures.

For exposing the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20 of the main body,a thrust tool, such as a pin, is introduced via the hole 32 to cause theresilient arm 34 to be deformed resiliently to disengage the end pawl 33out of the mating hole 32. With the pawl 33 thus disengaged, thegripping section 37 is gripped to rotate the aperture opening/closingmember 21 in the direction shown by an arrow A in FIG. 6 to expose thedisk insertion/detachment aperture 20. With the aperture 20 thusexposed, the optical disk 4 may be exchanged by way of the aperture 20.

It will be noted that, as shown in FIG. 7, the end faces of the pivotpins 27, 28 forming the pivot section 31 pivotally supporting theaperture opening/closing member 21 by the main body of the cartridge 1,are formed with inclined guide surfaces 41 and 42 adapted for smoothlydisengaging the pivot pins 27, 28 from the recesses 29, 30 when theopening/closing member 21 is further rotated with respect to the mainbody of the cartridge 1 in the direction shown by an arrow A' from theposition shown by the chain-dotted line in FIG. 6. That is, when theaperture opening/closing member 21 is further rotated from thechain-dotted line position in FIG. 6 in the direction shown by the arrowA' shown therein, until the projection 26 abuts against the rear endface of the side wall 12 of the main body of the cartridge 1, so as tobe rotated about the abutting point as the center of rotation, theinclined guide surfaces 41 and 42 ride on the end faces of the engagingrecesses 29, 30. The upper and the lower halves 2 and 3 are extendedapart from each other by the pivot pins 27, 28 as shown in FIG. 10, theinclined guide surfaces 41 and 42 then guiding the pivot pins 27, 28 soas to escape from the recesses 29, 39. In this manner, the inclinedguide surfaces 41, 42 function to disengage the pivot pins 27, 28 fromthe mating recesses 29, 30, when the aperture opening/closing member 21is rotated in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 6 a distance which ismore than is necessary, so that the pivot section 31 inclusive of thepivot pins 27, 28 and hence the aperture opening/closing member 21 maybe protected from possible damages.

It is noted that the aforementioned shutter 9 is slidingly biased in adirection of closing the openings 7 and 8 by a torsion spring 43provided at one front side corner of the main body 1. The shutteropening operation is performed by an operating pin, not shown, providedto the recording/reproducing apparatus, not shown, and adapted forengaging in a through-hole 44 in the connecting section 9c. However, theshutter 9 may also be maintained in the position of closing the openings7 and 8 by a locking member, not shown, instead of by the torsion spring43, in which case the shutter 9 may be slid for exposing the openings 7and 8 by an operating pin adapted for releasing the locking by thelocking member.

In the above described embodiment, the disk insertion/detachmentaperture 20 is formed in the rear surface of the main body of thecartridge 1. However, the disk insertion/detachment aperture 20 may alsobe provided on the lateral side which is not provided with the shutter 9and the aperture opening/closing member 21 is mounted rotatably.

The disk cartridge of the present invention is so arranged that theclosing/opening member for the disk insertion/detachment aperture ismounted so as to be rotated with the pivoting section to the main bodyof the cartridge as the center of rotation and within a plane of themain body of the disk cartridge, and may be locked with the retainingend pawl at the resilient arm at the other end of the opening/closingmember opposite to the pivot section engaging with the mating retainingsection provided in the main body of the cartridge. Thus the unlockingof the main body of the cartridge by the aperture opening/closing memberis performed simply by thrusting the resilient arm, while the exposureof the disk insertion/detachment aperture may be realized simply bygripping and rotating the aperture opening/closing member. Since nounnecessary load is applied to the main body of the cartridge during theoperation of opening or closing the disk insertion/detachment aperture,it becomes possible to prevent the main body of the cartridge from beingdeformed as well as to sufficiently protect the disk-shaped recordingmedium accommodated in the main body of the cartridge.

Also, when the opening/closing member is at the position closing thedisk insertion/detachment aperture in the main body of the cartridge,the position control section of the opening/closing member, provided atthe side thereof provided with the pivot section, is engaged with amating engaging portion of the main body of the cartridge. Thus the loadapplied to the opening/closing member may be sustained at the positioncontrol section to realize the protection of the pivot section and toimprove durability and reliability of the disk cartridge.

In addition, since the post-recording inhibit member is provided on theaperture opening/closing member, there is no necessity of providing asupporting projection for slidably supporting the post-recording inhibitmember on the main body of the cartridge so that a smooth surface may beprovided within the main body and hence a possible damage to therecording medium may be reliably inhibited at the time of an exchangeoperation for the disk-shaped recording medium. Above all, thepost-recording inhibit member is provided on the gripping section havinga larger thickness, so that a sufficient mounting strength is warranted.Since the aperture opening/closing member provided with thepost-recording inhibit member is mounted with position control on themain body of the cartridge, the post-recording inhibit member may bemounted with inproved accuracy.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disk cartridge adapted to releasably receivetherein a disk-shaped recording medium for engagement by arecording/reproducing means within the cartridge, said disk cartridgecomprising:a) a flat rectangular main body having broad top and bottomwalls connected by shorter walls around part of its periphery to form athree-walled enclosure with one open side into which said recordingmedium may be received, said main body further having a semicircularwall within the enclosure to position said recording medium; and b) aclosure member adapted to swing from an open position, in which saidrecording medium may be introduced into the main body enclosure throughsaid one open side, to a closed position whereby said closure membercloses off said one open side of said main body to lockably secure saidrecording medium within the enclosure, said closure member beingpivotable between open and closed positions by a hinge connecting theclosure member to the open body, wherein said closure member pivotsabout an axis at one side of said one open side, in a plane parallel tothe broad top and bottom walls, wherein said disc cartridge furthercomprises means for unlocking said closure member when in said closedposition to thereby allow said closure member to be pivoted to said openposition.
 2. A disk cartridge adapted to releasably receive therein adisk-shaped recording medium for engagement by a recording reproducingmeans within the cartridge, said disk cartridge comprising:a main bodyof the cartridge for rotatably housing therein a disk-shaped recordingmedium, said main body of the cartridge having a major surface forextending over said recording medium and an opening on the major surfacethereof for exposing the signal recording surface of the disk-shapedrecording medium accommodated therein to the outside and aninsertion/detachment aperture for the disk-shaped recording medium on alateral side thereof normal to said major surface, and anopening/closing member having a pivot section on a first side thereoffulcrumed at one end of said aperture of said main body of the cartridgefor opening or closing said aperture, said opening/closing member havinga resilient arm on a second side thereof, said resilient arm having aretaining end pawl engaging in a mating retaining section provided onthe other lateral side of said main body of the cartridge for lockablysecuring said disk-shaped recording medium within said disk cartridge.